Is my cory dying?

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I bought a cory 4 days ago at a lfs. He was fine for the first 3 days but lately has been acting strange. ...

I bought a cory 4 days ago at a lfs. He was fine for the first 3 days but lately has been acting strange. He has become lethargic, unresponsive even to food, and dont seem to wanna do anything. Also, he's been doiing this strange move where he lets the water currents float him up, making it look like he's standing on his fin before swimming himself down. Is he dying, or is it normal? I also noticed that he has no barbel, so that might be a problem.

hi
how many other corydoras have you got,are they the same as this one,
or are they a mixed group,
can you list you water peramatures please.
how long have you noticed that he has not got barbels for ?
and what is the substrate that you have.
sorry for all the questions.

I got 4 cories all together. they aren't all the same, so its a mixed group. as for the water parameters, i got one of those strip kinds and they all say safe or ideal when i tested it, so i think water's ok. the barbels , i think were missing when i bought it. The gravel are small little pebble things you find at any fish store. The three other cories have no problems at all. they all look pretty happy and the fish leave all the cories alone, so i dont know what wrong with him.

hi
well i think(and this is just me thinking) he would be better off with
corys the same as him,that's maybe something you might be able to look at,if things get sorted.
your water worries me a little,the test strips are not very reliable
you would be better off with a liquid test kit.
i don't know about how well he can feed with no barbels either.
API recomended if you want a suggestion on one.
if all your other fish are healthy,no gasping for air ?
have you got a small tank you could put it in while it's not well,
i don't like to medicate when i don't know what the problem is,however
if you have some melifix,perhaps you could treat the tank with alittle,

What species of cory are they? And what species is the ill one? They definitely do best in groups of 6 or more of their pwn species as it gives them security.

Willow is right about the testing. could you post the numbers rather than just saying they are OK? The fact that you said "safe" indicates to me that there is a reading, even if it's low which is still a problem. A liquid test kit would be much better as, as mentioned the strips are very unreliable.

As long as the substrate isn't sharp you should be OK, but having missing barbels will make it more difficult for him to feed.

The stress of it being difficult for him to feed, bing moved recently and not being in groups could be stressing him and making him "give up" which cories sometimes do when they are stressed.

Is his belly sunken? if so then this means he is not getting enough food. What are you feeding them?

Are there adequate hiding places? What size of tank and what other tankmates are in there? Cories tend not to hide when there are plentiful hiding spots and when in groups, but hiding places do make them fel secure. It's a case of if they feel secure then they won't hide, but if there aren't any hiding places and they don't fel secure then they wil try to take refuge wherever they can and will often fade away. Depending on other tank mates he could be being harassed, or feel threatened which would add to his stress as well.

It definitely sems like a stress issue as there are no visible signs of illness or injury (apart from the barbells) and his behaviour is indicitive of stress and "giving up".

Sorry if this is a bit full on, but if you are able to answer all my questions it will be much easier to diagnose the problem.

Alrite lemme try to answer them all. The one thats ill is a false julii, i think, and the others are a mix of3 different kinds, im not sure what. All the other cories do fine without being in their own kind, its just this one.

As for the test strip, I got it tested at a lfs store and they said it was fine, just a slightly high nitrate. I did a change right when i got back so i think water's ok.

As for the belly, I can't tell if its sunken or not. I think it might be, because he has not shown any interest in food. I see him scavenge a couple times, but I've thrown food right in front of him several times and he seems oblivious to it.

At this point I'm concluding either he's stressed or just shy. The first option seems more valid. I just dont know what stressing him.